A teary EJ Obiena uttered his thanks and apologies during a moment with members of the press. He could not help but be flooded with emotions, especially after failing to clear his final attempt in the men’s pole vault that would have earned him a podium and an Olympic medal. 

“I want to say thank you, maraming salamat po, for all the support and love given. And I think that makes a whole journey like this from Tokyo to today really worthwhile,” said Obiena in an interview with GMA Integrated News’ JP Soriano.

The world No. 2 pole vaulter from the Philippines, who settled for fourth place, was palpably disappointed with the unfortunate conclusion of his games in Paris. 

After cruising past 5.85 meters and 5.90m, EJ just could not pull off the perfect jump in all three successive attempts to clear 5.95m.

Despite clearing the same height (5.90m) as Obiena, eventual bonze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece nabbed the last podium ticket by way of only needing one jump each to clear all the heights, while EJ had a redo at 5.80m.

Pole vault king and world No.1 Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis (Sweden), meanwhile, seemed untouchable during the competition finale in what was a successful defense of his Olympic gold.

His world record-shattering 6.25m was a clear indication of his cut-above-the-rest skill set, comfortably ahead of silver medalist Sam Kendricks (USA) who cleared 5.95m. 

Even after a heartbreaking performance, a very sport EJ Obiena was quick to acknowledge that losing is all part of the game.

“We've been through a lot, and sometimes I feel I don't deserve this, especially today. I fell short, and it's the reality of sports,” admitted Obiena.

EJ’s placement in Paris was a significant upgrade from his previous ranking during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he cleared 5.70 meters to finish 11th overall.

Still, the two-time Olympian expressed his utmost gratitude to all the Filipino fans “who have been supporting me.”

“Maraming salamat pa rin… to everybody who's cheering me on and giving me all these very positive emotions. I do apologize for coming short,” the 28-year-old said. 

“Such is life, and such is sport. We'll see. We'll see how it goes.”